Sabbatical programs and the status of academic emergency medicine: A survey

Objectives: The Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) commissioned a survey in 1998 to describe sabbatical programs, academic rank, and tenur e, and to shed light on factors affecting the continuum of faculty developm ent, as a context for evaluating the potential importance of emergency medi cine (EM) sabbatical programs. Methods: The chairs of 120 EM residency prog rams were surveyed. Results: The response rate was 90%. Of 108 responses, 4 4 were academic EM departments (AEMDs); ten were their affiliates. The sett ing was urban for 82%; 37% were publicly funded and 58% privately. AEMDs we re more likely to have a tenure track and eligibility for a sabbatical prog ram, but not more likely to use a sabbatical program. Among 2,042 ranked EM faculty, there were 121 professors and 346 associate professors, Mean sabb atical length was six months, provided at full pay requiring a mean of 5.7 years of employment. Among 39 programs reporting eligibility for an EM sabb atical, requirements included: tenure (43%), academic rank of associate pro fessor (78%), an application with multiple approval levels (92%), and a for mal report (75%). Thirteen EM programs used sabbaticals; only 40 faculty me mbers altogether (9% of senior faculty) have taken sabbaticals. The mean va lue of sabbaticals (rated by users on a scale of 1 to 10) was 6.8. Reduced funding, lack of departmental status, difficulty retaining faculty, Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) regulations, graduate medical educatio n (GME) cutbacks, and no release time were identified as challenges for eme rgency physicians (EPs) wishing to participate in sabbaticals. Strategies p roposed to overcome these obstacles include quality customer service, strea mlined operations, outside contracts, computerization, hiring individuals w ith PhDs, collaboration, political activity, and faculty development. Concl usions: A sabbatical can be beneficial for individuals and their institutio ns, but presently EPs have not been able to maximize use of available oppor tunities. Some obstacles to successful participation of EM in sabbatical pr ograms might be overcome with creative strategies and the active support of professional academic organizations.